The White House expressed concern on Thursday at reports that the U.S. military has secretly paid Iraqi newspapers to run dozens of pro-American articles written by a special military task force. The Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday the program began this year and the articles were written in English, translated into Arabic and then given to Baghdad newspapers to print in return for money."We're very concerned about the reports. We are seeking more information from the Pentagon," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.He said Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had indicated that Pentagon officials are looking into the reports."We need to know what the facts are. Gen. Pace indicated it was news to him as well," McClellan said.... http://news.yahoo.com

U.S. and Iraqi operations along the Syrian border have resulted in a significant drop in suicide bombings to only 23 attacks in November, the lowest level in seven months, a U.S. general said.But Maj. Gen. Mark Lynch warned that al-Qaida in Iraq will likely step up attacks in the next two weeks to try to disrupt parliamentary elections on Dec. 15.U.S. forces have launched a series of major operations in Baghdad and along the Syrian border since late September. Lynch said U.S. force believe al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi funnels most of his recruits through Syria into Iraq along the Euphrates River. Instead of fighting through an insurgent stronghold along the border and then leaving as it has in the past, U.S. troops now leave behind an Iraqi military post to maintain security after a town has been cleared....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10281801/from/RSS/

From the gleaming golden domes of the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in the Far East, residents of one of the biggest cities in the country's sprawling far eastern region were praying on Thursday that they will be spared the worst from a toxic spill headed their way. Khabarovsk is bracing for the arrival of a slick of benzene that seeped into the waters upriver in China after a Nov. 13 accident at a chemical plant. Regional experts said the spill is expected to reach the Russian side of the border by Dec. 11, give or take a couple of days. The slick will take another four days or so to reach Khabarovsk, about 124 miles from where China's Songhua River joins Russia's Amur River. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/01/world/main1090273.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=World_1090273

The Conservative Party boldly pledged on Thursday to slash a hated consumption tax if it wins the January federal election. Party leader Stephen Harper promised to cut the federal goods and services tax (GST) to 5 percent from 7 percent over five years. The unpopular tax was introduced in 1991 by the then Conservative government in a bid to curb budget deficits. Cutting the GST is an idea that could well resonate with voters, especially since the Liberals promised in the 1993 election campaign they would scrap it. Once in power, however, they changed their minds. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1362841

The military hasn't done a good enough job of explaining to the American people what is going on in Iraq and the political and military progress there, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday. Even so, Gen. Peter Pace, warned that battling terrorism will be a long war. Speaking at the National Defense University at Fort McNair, Pace said he is often asked if the United States would be better off by ending the fight and leaving Iraq. "There is no option other than victory," he said. "You need to get out and read what our enemies have said ... Their goal is to destroy our way of life." ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-12-01-pentagoniraq_x.htm?csp=34

Barring an unlikely intervention, a convicted killer will die by lethal injection in the dead of night on Friday in the 1,000th execution in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated three decades ago. Kenneth Boyd, 57, was scheduled to die at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina at 2 a.m. EST (0700 GMT) for killing his estranged wife and her father in 1988 in front of his children. His execution has attracted worldwide attention not because of the nature of the crime, but because it will mark a symbolic milestone in the history of the death penalty. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1362864